Zeke's Grief
by Beepbeep24
Summary: After finding out that Rachel Kinski has died, young teen Zeke must face the world without any biological family left. How will he cope?
1. Run Away

**A/N I do not own Neighbours or any of the characters**

**Please enjoy!!! Oh, and by the way, this is set in Bridget's hospital room for a while; the day after the music festival**

Smiles appeared on everyone's faces as little Tadpole held firmly onto her mother's fingers. Bridget held Tadpole closer to her. Declan stood by, a grin from ear to ear on his face.

Everyone was there for Didge and Declan; Steve, Miranda, Rebecca, Paul Robinson, Elle, Lucas, Dan, Libby, Karl, Susan, Sunny, Zeke, Donna and Ringo.

Karl's phone began to ring, causing Tadpole to cry. Karl excused himself and went out to the hospital corridor. When he returned, he looked at Susan and shook his head.

"She's gone," he whispered.

"Who's gone?" Zeke asked, hearing the adults quite clearly.

"Ah, Zeke, I think we need to go home," Karl began. "It's important."

"Why do we have to go home, we just got here?" the teen asked.

"Zeke..." Susan said cautiously. "Really, we need to tell you something."

Zeke shrugged.

"Tell me here," he demanded.

Karl and Susan sighed. Zeke wasn't budging.

"Zeke, please," Karl said.

The room was silent besides Tadpoles crying.

"Can't you just tell me?" Zeke said, getting annoyed. He wanted to stay with his friends.

Karl gestured to Susan and Zeke to follow him to the corridor. They did so, leaving behind a confused bunch of people; all except Libby and Dan, who knew exactly what had happened.

"Zeke, please stay calm, okay?" Karl began. "Yesterday, um, Rachel was...ah, run over in London...she was put into a coma and, ah, Zeke. We're sorry, Zeke, but Rachel has died."

Zeke turned white. He didn't move, he didn't speak. He couldn't bring himself to understand what had happened.

Susan touched Zeke's shoulder warily, tear forming in her eyes.

At her touch, Zeke ran and didn't look back. He just ran straight out of the hospital, ignoring the calls coming from Karl and Susan.

Libby and Dan came out of the room to join Karl and Susan in the corridor.

"Where is he?" Libby asked.

Karl shook his head.

"He just ran straight out of here. I don't know where he's gone!"

"Well you've got to go and find him!" Libby shouted, causing passing nurses to look their way. "He's in grieving, and you don't know what he could be out there doing!"

Dan hugged Libby, who was shaking and sobbing.

"We'll find him," Dan encouraged. "Don't worry babe, we'll find him."

"Call when you get any news," Susan said, kissing Karl. She was so worried about that poor boy.

Susan and Libby turned back to each other when Dan and Karl had gone.

"That poor boy," Susan sobbed. "He's been through so much!"

Libby shook her head sadly.

"I guess we should go home, mum," Libby sighed.

"Yeah, we'll just go say goodbye I guess," Susan said, leading the way back into the room.

"Where are the boys?" Miranda asked unknowingly.

Libby and Susan looked at each other and nodded.

"Hey, we need to tell you all something...and we have to ask for you not to spread the news," Susan began.

Libby took a deep breath. "Rachel is gone...she got run over and put into a coma."

The room was dead silent. Everyone was shocked and hurt. All the girls had tears in their eyes, and the boys were holding their girls tightly.

Susan and Libby began to cry.

"We just told Zeke, and he ran. We don't know where to, but Karl and Dan went after him," Susan finished, unable to say any more.

"Oh, my gosh!" people whispered.

"I can't believe it!"

"The poor darling!"

The teens stayed silent. Declan was holding both Didge and Tadpole, and Ringo was holding onto both Donna and Sunny. It was so sad

"Well, we're going home. Sorry for bringing you down, Bridget, but we thought you should know."

Libby and Susan left, and soon after so did the teens and the other adults.

A few minutes after arriving home, Susan received a call. It was Karl

"We've found him. You'd better come quick!"

**Ooooh, where is Zeke? Is he okay? Has he done something to himself in grief?**

**You'll have to wait until the next chapter!!**

**Please review. It keeps me going**


	2. Graveyard

Susan and Libby raced to the graveyard, worried and distraught.

They met up with their husbands, who were standing with their arms crossed, watching Zeke. They were a good distance away.

Zeke was next to two graves; one belonging to his mother, and the other belonging to his father. He knelt on the floor with his arms sprawled across a grave. He was crying and shaking violently.

The women began crying to.

"We didn't go up to him," Karl explained. "We thought that this should be a more private moment of his, and I didn't think that he needed us there."

"He needs to know that we're there for him," Libby retorted. "He'll think he's all alone to deal with this!"

Libby and Susan went up to Zeke. They too were crying.

Zeke didn't look up at them.

Libby hugged Zeke, while Susan held one of his hands.

Meanwhile, Dan and Karl were standing there watching the scene.

Of course they felt remorse and heartache too, but they both felt better away from the scene.

"Who's graves are those that he's on?" Dan asked.

"They're his parent's graves. Oh, the trauma Zeke went through those days and Rachel as well. But Rachel was there for Zeke; she was like a rock. He was young, you know."

"He hasn't had an easy life, that's for sure," Dan said.

Karl agreed.

"Nor has his life been without drama," Karl added.

The guys nodded solemnly.

"You know, when his parent's died, Zeke felt without family. Of course, he knew Rachel was there, but he didn't feel safe. He had been lied to by adults, and he didn't trust them. Poor kid felt alone."

"Libby told me that Zeke felt responsible for his dad's death," Dan said. "Why is that?"

Karl laughed at the memory, but realised that that was inappropriate.

"Zeke told me that he had wished that Alex was dying instead of his mother.

When his mum died, there was trauma of course, but when Alex died, oh dear. He thought that because he had wished for Alex to die instead of his mum, that his wish came true.

Young children get all sorts of things into their heads"

Dan nodded. He understood. After all, he had experience death in his own life as well.

__________________

"I can't believe it..." Donna trailed off.

"We know, you've said that fifty times in last few minutes," Ringo said.

"Well, it would be nice for you to show some emotion seeing as your best friend's sister just died. You know, Rachel was your friend too!"

Ringo rolled his eyes and gestured to Declan. Declan shook his head.

"We're not leaving until we get some info," Declan said. "No matter how annoying that may be."

Sunny was quiet. She had been for a while. Declan noticed this.

"Hey, Sunny, he'll be fine. Don't worry," Dec assured the quiet one.

"Yep," nodded Sunny.

"Look, I've got to go to the hospital to see Didge and Tadpole. I'll be back later," Declan said as he got up.

"What happened to waiting until we got some info?" Ringo questioned.

"Did your wife just have a baby?"

Ringo sat back down, irritated by the whole situation.

Why should he have to sit there with a girlfriend who was mad at him, and a friend who was so quiet it was freaky?

"Ringo, didn't you hear me?" Donna said angrily. "I said no TV at a time like this!"

________________

"Zeke, we should get going," Karl began cautiously.

Zeke shook his head determinedly, but didn't speak.

"Sweetie, it's going to rain," Susan attempted. "We have to go home and sort things out, okay?"

Another tear slipped out of his eye and down his cheek.

"Or we can sort things out tomorrow, and just relax tonight," Susan added quickly, noticing the tears.

Zeke eventually budged, and allowed the adults to steer him to the car. He sat quietly the whole ride home, staring out the window.

"Zeke, we're home."

Zeke slowly got out of the car and into the house. He goes into his bedroom and locks the door. Karl and Susan sighed heavily.

"Call us if anything else happens, please!" Libby said before she left with Dan.

Meanwhile inside his room, Zeke was frustrated.

Why did everything happen to him?

Why couldn't he have been one of those lucky kids with a real mum and dad, and siblings?

Why was he now alone?

Zeke saw a picture of himself and Rachel on his wall. He snatched it off and ripped it, before falling to the floor and crying for the rest of the night.

**R & R plz**


	3. Hospital

**Hope you like this chapter. And don't worry, Zeke will be making progress in the next few chapters**

"How is he?" Libby asked as soon as she had walked into the house.

"He hasn't come out of his room," Karl began.

"He hasn't eaten anything," Susan added.

"He hasn't slept either," Ringo said.

"I could hear him throwing up in the middle of the night. I'm worried about him," Sunny concluded.

Libby looked to Dan with big, teary eyes.

"Have you checked up on him?" Libby asked, worried for her half-brother.

Karl shook his head.

"We only just woke up and started talking," Karl explained. "We'll go in now."

Karl, Susan and Libby went into Zeke's room. Sunny, Ringo and Dan stayed outside.

"So, how have you two been," asked Mr. Fitzgerald.

They shrugged.

"We've mainly been worried, I suppose," Sunny said, not looking anyone in the eye.

"I'm sure he'll be fine after he gets everything out of his system. People have different ways of coping with certain situations," Dan added, seeing his student's worried looks.

"I sure hope so," Ringo said, his arms crossed.

The three stopped talking immediately when Karl brought Zeke out. Zeke had passed out, and was limply in Karl's arms.

Libby was sobbing, as was Susan. Sunny brought her hand to her mouth in shock and fright when she saw poor Zeke.

Karl laid Zeke on the sofa. He began calling Zeke's name.

"Zeke, can you hear me?" Karl said loudly.

Zeke woke up, and blinked a few times before he was able to see properly.

"OH, Zeke, don't do it again! Come on, stay with me!!!" Karl said loudly.

Zeke had fainted again.

"Call an ambulance!" Karl said.

Ringo ran and got the phone. In a matter of minutes, an ambulance had arrived.

"Ok, we're going to need to take him to the hospital quickly to get checked up," the nurse said. "How many times has he fainted, did you say?"

"Two," Karl answered quickly.

"He's going to be okay," Dan was whispering repeatedly into Libby's ear. He was wondering why she was so anxious.

_________

At the hospital, Zeke was laying on a bed almost motionless. Still, he would not speak.

The doctor was checking him over, and Libby, Karl, Susan and Dan were waiting outside, watching.

"I'm going to go and get a coffee," Karl said. "Does anyone else want something?"

"Yeah, I'll come with you," Dan said.

The two walked down the corridor.

"Mum, can I tell you something?" Libby asked nervously.

"Of course, sweetheart," Susan said.

"Mum, I was thinking of postponing the surrogacy for a while."

"What? Why?" Susan said, surprised. "I thought that you really wanted that!"

Libby closed her eyes and breathed heavily.

"I do really want it, but I can't do it," Libby said, not looking her mother in the eyes.

"Is this because of the hospital, because trust me Lib, we'll get that baby!"

"No, it isn't because of the hospital..." Libby trailed off. "I feel guilty."

"You feel guilty? Sweetie, why should you feel guilty? You've done nothing wrong!" Susan said, still shocked by the sudden change of heart.

"Please don't argue with me, mum. I know what I'm doing," Libby said. "I feel guilty because I already have a son..."

"And he's fine with you having another baby, he said so himself!" interrupted Susan.

"I know that, but I already have son, and yet I want another baby. Zeke has absolutely no biological family left, and still I'm here wanting to add to my already great family! I just feel so guilty for the poor boy; I can't do it!"

Libby began to cry.

"Oh, Libby, have you talked to Dan about this?" Susan asked, worried and quiet.

Libby shook her head.

"I'm scared to. What if he opposes to this? What if he suddenly doesn't care and he wants to have the baby still? I've made everyone suffer already for this baby, and now I'm asking for Dan to just let everything else go and stop the surrogacy."

"I'm sure he'll be okay with this Libby, but I still don't think that you should feel guilty," Susan said softly.

"I can't help that."

"I know, and I'm proud of you, sweetheart."

_________________

"Well, the good news is that there isn't anything _wrong_ with his," the doctor said after he had finished checking up on Zeke.

"Then why did he faint? Why did he throw up? Why isn't he talking?" Susan demanded.

"Well, the fainting and vomiting is simply a side effect of shock and stress. He has been put under quite a lot of that in the past few years. As for the quiet, I have to say that there is no medical reason for this, and that he is just trying to sort things out and cope with the before said shock and stress."

"When will he be allowed out?" Karl asked.

"Today. We'll just ask you to fill out some release forms, and then he can go home."

"What about school? When do you think he should go back to it?" Libby asked.

"Well, as soon as he feels up to it would be good. The sooner he gets into a normal routine, the better I suppose. Now, onto those forms..."

**R & R please!!!!**


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